1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a vaccine which protects pigs from a disease caused by respiratory and reproductive viruses, a method of protecting a pig from a respiratory and reproductive disease, a method of producing a vaccine, and DNA obtained from a virus causing a porcine respiratory and reproductive disease.
2. Discussion of the Background
In recent years, North American and European swine herds have been susceptible to infection by new strains of respiratory and reproductive viruses (see A.A.S.P., September/October 1991, pp. 7-11; The Veterinary Record, Feb. 1, 1992, pp. 87-89; Ibid., Nov. 30, 1991, pp. 495-496; Ibid., Oct. 26, 1991, p. 370; Ibid., Oct. 19, 1991, pp. 367-368; Ibid., Aug. 3, 1991, pp. 102-103; Ibid., Jul. 6, 1991; Ibid., Jun. 22, 1991, p. 578; Ibid., Jun. 15, 1991, p. 574; Ibid., Jun. 8, 1991, p. 536; Ibid., Jun. 1, 1991, p. 511; Ibid., Mar. 2, 1991, p. 213). Among the first of the new strains to be identified was a virus associated with the so-called Mystery Swine Disease (MSD) or "blue-eared syndrome", now known as Swine Infertility and Respiratory Syndrome (SIRS) or Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS). In Europe, this disease has also been called porcine epidemic abortion and respiratory syndrome (PEARS), blue abortion disease, blue ear disease (U.K.), abortus blau (Netherlands) and seuchenhafter spatabort der schweine (Germany), and the corresponding virus has been termed "Lelystad virus." In the U.S., this disease has also been called Wabash syndrome, mystery pig disease (MPD) and swine plague. A disease which is sometimes associated with PRRS is proliferative interstitial pneumonia (PIP).
Outbreaks of "blue ear disease" have been observed in swine herds in the U.K., Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Its outbreak in England has led to cancellation of pig shows. The symptoms of PRRS include a reluctance to eat (anorexia), a mild fever (pyrexia), cyanosis of the extremities (notably bluish ears), stillbirths, abortion, high mortality in affected litters, weak-born piglets and premature farrowing. The majority of piglets born alive to affected sows die within 48 hours. PRRS clinical signs include mild influenza-like signs, rapid respiration ("thumping"), and a diffuse interstitial pneumonitis. PRRS virus has an incubation period of about 2 weeks from contact with an infected animal. The virus appears to be an enveloped RNA arterivirus (Ibid., Feb. 1, 1992). The virus has been grown successfully in pig alveolar macrophages and CL2621 cells (Benfield et al, J. Vet. Diagn. Invest., 4:127-133, 1992; Collins et al, Swine Infertility and Respiratory Syndrome/Mystery Swine Disease. Proc., Minnesota Swine Conference for Veterinarians, pp. 200-205, 1991), and in MARC-145 cells (Joo, PRRS: Diagnosis, Proc., Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, Veterinary Continuing Education and Extension, University of Minnesota (1993), 20:53-55). A successful culturing of a virus which causes SIRS has also been reported by Wensvoort et al (Mystery Swine Disease in the Netherlands: The Isolation of Lelystad Virus. Vet. Quart. 13:121-130, 1991).
The occurrence of PRRS in the U.S. has adversely affected the pig farming industry. In Canada, PRRS has been characterized by anorexia and pyrexia in sows lasting up to 2 weeks, late-term abortions, increased stillbirth rates, weak-born pigs and neonatal deaths preceded by rapid abdominal breathing and diarrhea. Work on the isolation of the virus causing PRRS, on a method of diagnosing PRRS infection, and on the development of a vaccine against the PRRS virus has been published (see Canadian Patent Publication No. 2,076,744; PCT International Patent Publication No. WO 93/03760; PCT International Patent Publication No. WO 93/06211; and PCT International Patent Publication No. WO 93/07898).
A second virus strain discovered in the search for the causative agent of PRRS causes a disease now known as Proliferative and Necrotizing Pneumonia (PNP). The symptoms of PNP and the etiology of the virus which causes it appear similar to PRRS and its corresponding virus, but there are identifiable differences. For example, the virus which causes PNP is believed to be a non-classical or atypical swine influenza A virus (aSIV).
The main clinical signs of PNP are fever, dyspnea and abdominal respiration. Pigs of different ages are affected, but most signs occur in pigs between 4 and 16 weeks of age. Lungs of affected pigs are diffusely reddened and "meaty" in consistency (Collins, A.A.S.P., September/October 1991, pp. 7-11). By contrast, pigs affected with PRRS show no significant fever, and respiratory signs are observed mainly in neonatal pigs (less than 3 weeks old) with pulmonary lesions, characterized by a diffuse interstitial pneumonia.
Encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) is another virus which causes severe interstitial pneumonia along with severe interstitial, necrotizing and calcifying myocarditis. Experimentally, EMCV produces reproductive failure in affected sows (Kim et al, J. Vet. Diagn. Invest., 1:101-104 (1989); Links et al, Aust. Vet. J., 63:150-152 (1986); Love et al, Aust. Vet. J., 63:128-129 (1986)).
Recently, a more virulent form of PRRS has been occurring with increased incidence in 3-8 week old pigs in the Midwestern United States. Typically, healthy 3-5 week old pigs are weaned and become sick 5-7 days later. Routine virus identification methods on tissues from affected pigs have shown that swine influenza virus (SIV), pseudorabies virus (PRV), and Mycoplasma hyophneumoniae are not associated with this new form of PRRS.
The present invention is primarily concerned with a vaccine which protects pigs from the infectious agent causing this new, more virulent form of PRRS, with a method of producing and administering the vaccine, and with DNA encoding a portion of the genome of the infectious agent causing this new form of PRRS. However, it is believed that the information learned in the course of developing the present invention will be useful in developing vaccines and methods of protecting pigs against any and/or all porcine respiratory and reproductive diseases. For example, the present Inventors have characterized the pathology of at least one PRRS virus which differs from the previously published pathology of PRRS virus(es) (see Table I below). Therefore, the present invention is not necessarily limited to vaccines and methods related to the infectious agent causing this new form of PRRS, which the present Inventors have termed the "Iowa strain" of PRRS virus (PRRSV).
Nonetheless, pessimism and skepticism has been expressed in the art concerning the development of effective vaccines against these porcine viruses (The Veterinary Record, Oct. 26, 1991). A belief that human influenza vaccine may afford some protection against the effects of PRRS and PNP exists in the art (for example, see Ibid., Jul. 6, 1991). However, the use of a human vaccine in a food animal is generally discouraged by regulatory and administrative agencies, and therefore, this approach is not feasible in actual practice (Ibid.).
The pig farming industry has been and will continue to be adversely affected by these porcine reproductive and respiratory diseases and new variants thereof, as they appear. Surprisingly, the market for animal vaccines in the U.S. and worldwide is larger than the market for human vaccines. Thus, there exists an economic incentive to develop new veterinary vaccines, in addition to the substantial public health benefit which is derived from protecting farm animals from disease.